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Sunday, February 20, 2011

This past Wednesday, Arsenal hosted Barcelona at The Emirates in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Barcelona is considered the best team in the world and is pretty much made up of the Spanish squad that won the World Cup this past summer in South Africa. Arsenal went in to the game knowing its past history with
Barcelona having been knocked out of the competition by the La Liga leaders in the quarter-finals last season and losing to the Catalans 2-1 in the 2006 finals.

So what did Arsenal come out and do just several days ago? They came back from a 1-0 deficit and won the first leg 2-1 while keeping Lionel Messi off of the score sheet. It was a monumental achievement that has had fans, pundits, journalists and football fans all over praising Arsene Wenger and his team.

Then today, Arsenal visited League One Leyton Orient in a 5th round FA Cup match. With the fixtures coming thick and fast, Arsene Wenger rested a number of first team players knowing that Stoke awaits in mid week, the Carling Cup final is next weekend and the small matter of a second leg Champions League match at the Nou Camp is quickly approaching.

Arsenal dominated possession and went in to the final moments of the match up 1-0. To Leyton Orient's credit, they didn't stop battling and they scored a goal with just a minute left in regulation. A bummer? Yes. Annoying? Yes. The end of the world? No.

Van Persie puts one past Barcelona

It was amazing to see so many negative comments by Arsenal fans on Twitter and other message boards after today's game. Four days ago these same fans were heaping praise on the team. Unbelievable. Chill out folks. Arsenal didn't lose. They're still in the competition. Yes they'll have to play another game, but give them a freaking break. Remember, they are still the only team in England alive in four competitions and just beat BARCELONA 2-1.

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Arshavin scores the second versus Barcelona

Let's have some perspective. Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League every year since 1997. They are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won 13 First Division and Premier League titles as well as 10 FA Cups. In addition, Arsenal hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and are the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten.

Do you need another point of view? You could be a fan of the New York Mets. The Mets are about to begin their 50th season and have won just two championships. They appeared in the finals on two other occasions, most recently losing to the hated crosstown Yankees in 2000. That was more than painful. That would be like Arsenal losing to Tottenham in the FA Cup Final and having to listen to their fans celebrate and trash talk forever.

Then in 2006, the Mets went to game 7 of the NLCS with the chance to return to the World Series (yes my non American friends I know it's a bit presumptuous but it is called the World Series). With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, one of the Mets' best hitters, Carlos Beltran, struck out LOOKING with the bases loaded. Since then it's been a long torturous downward spiral.

Relax Arsenal fans, at least you don't support the Mets

The Mets famously choked away division leads in 2007 and 2008 and since then have finished below .500 the past two years. Going in to this season, the Mets are a lock to be mediocre as the team's owners haven't spent a dime due to losing tons of money in Bernie Madoff's ponzi schemes. Add to that, the insane contracts that the team is stuck with; $12 million to horrible Oliver Perez and $6 million to the gimpy Luis Castillo. If money wasn't an issue, these guys would be long gone. These deals make Chelsea's signing of Fernando Torres for 50 million pounds look like the deal of the century. Yes, they paid a lot, but at least the guy can actually play.

So my fellow Arsenal fans...chill out, get a grip and take a reality check. Arsenal are in the Carling Cup Final, 4 points off the top of the EPL, lead Barcelona 2-1 going in to the second leg of the Champions League last 16 and STILL ALIVE in the FA Cup. Remember, you could be supporting the New York Mets.
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One other enjoyable football moment this week: Watching Chelsea crash out of the FA Cup to Everton with New Jersey's own Tim Howard saving from Le Sulk Nicolas Anelka and the one and only Ca$hley Cole skying his shot and thus eliminating his team from the cup. Karma is a bitch.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

For weeks all Arsenal fans heard were the doubters, haters, naysayers and every other negative force out there writing off their team's chances of progressing in the Champions League knockout stages. As always seems to be the case, Arsenal were drawn against the team that no one else wanted to play in the round of 16...the World Cup Champions (minus 1 or 2 players) Barcelona. Meanwhile, ManUre and Chelski get the easier draws with Marseille and Copenhagen respectively.

Twitter was aflutter with nervous gooners leading up to game time and as the start drew closer the atmosphere inside The Emirates was AMAZING. (Video courtesy of @Keiththegooner) You could feel the confidence of the players right from the start and that familiar air of uncertainty was gone. There was a different feeling this time. It's crazy but just watching the game as a viewer, you could feel that this year was different. Yes Barcelona are a great team, but, they could be beaten by this Arsenal squad.

Arshavin gets his mojo back

Despite conceding an easy goal in the first half, the players did not lose their composure. Instead they seemed to dig in more. Koscielny was a beast on defense and Jack Wilshere became the face of Fabio Capello's England by owning the midfield against the likes of Xavi and Iniesta.

Van Persie's tight angle goal in the 78th minute was a thing of beauty and substitute Andre Arshavin's game winner 5 minutes later not only gave Arsenal the win, but gave Arshavin the dose of confidence that he's been in need of over the last few months. A rejuvenated Arshavin can only mean good things for the stretch run. It may sound crazy, but confidence is a piece of the puzzle that Arsenal has been missing. Not only was this a victory over the best team in the world...it was a team boost of confidence that can never be taken away. With Arsenal still alive in four competitions that confidence could be vital over the last few months of the season.

Meanwhile in the EPL, Arsenal came back from the debacle at Newcastle and easily contained Wolves at The Emirates 2-0. The scoreline actually flatters Wolves as goalie Wayne Hennessey was outstanding and the only thing that kept the scoreline respectable. Robin Van Persie showed his class with both goals and the Gunners kept pace with ManUre who beat Manc Citeh and pretty much erased them from the conversation. Rooney scored a great bicycle kick goal and acted like Jesus in his celebration, but ManUre continue to ride their luck and definitely can be caught by Arsenal. The remaining fixtures favor Arsenal and the belief amongst the team and the fans is growing.

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Most enjoyable non Arsenal moment of the week:
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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The events on the pitch this past Saturday are without a doubt some of the most inexplicable that Arsenal fans have seen in quite some time. Between the kickoff of Arsenal's visit to Newcastle and the final whistle of ManUre's match at Wolves gooners everywhere, experienced every emotion in the book. Rather than try to explain the events that unfolded, I thought it would be best to use the actual words of my "tweeps", fellow Arsenal supporters on Twitter. What follows are actual tweets from folks that I follow that perhaps best portray one of the craziest and maddening match days that Arsenal fans have experienced in recent times.

So, in the end Arsenal are up 4-0 and end up with a 4-4 draw. ManUre have the chance to pick up points over second place Arsenal and continue their pursuit of Arsenal's 2003-2004 Invincibles who went an entire season without a loss. They take an early 1-0 lead and somehow lowly Wolves come back, take the lead and hold on for a famous win. Net result...Arsenal pick up one point on ManUre and are now closer to the top of the table. How fans interpret things is up to each fan individually. I refuse to focus on the negatives. It's a valuable point for Arsenal and shows why football truly is "the beautiful game".

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The transfer window in English football closed this week and as usually happens, the biggest deals came right down to the wire and involved tons of cash being thrown around. Interestingly enough, the two biggest culprits in this excessive spending frenzy are two of the traditional "Big Four", Liverpool and Chelsea. However, rather than being perceived as smart business moves, both franchises are being chastised for spending big out of desperation rather than anything else.

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Brother can you spare a dime?

Chelski and their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich are the worst offenders. With their once dominant squad now showing their age and slipping in the standings, Mr. money bags drops £50 million to sign Liverpool's biggest star, disgruntled striker Fernando Torres and over £20 million on defender David Luiz. While crazy money in sports has become common, £50 million for even a player as good as Torres is INSANE. As Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger pointed out, one day Chelsea announce a loss of £70 million and then turn around and spend £75 million on new players. I'm no financial wizard but I can tell that doesn't sound fiscally responsible.

Liverpool have had a turbulent season and have seen their form drop while also going through an ownership change. I can't really jump all over Liverpool for spending, as they definitely needed reinforcements. First Liverpool paid £22.75m for Luis Suarez from Ajax which seemed expensive, but he is a quality player. Then their hands were forced when Fernando "Judas" Torres started crying that he wanted to leave and Daddy "Warbucks" Abramovich swooped in and gave Liverpool crazy money for his services. With time running out, the much touted but still unproven Andy Carroll became available. The price, just a small £35 million. He's definitely a good looking guy, but even that doesn't justify paying so much for an unproven striker.

Begrudgingly I'll give Man. U. credit as they did not throw money around in this transfer window. Of course I will also give praise to my beloved Arsenal. While many fans, myself included, think that the team could have benefited from some defensive help, Wenger has proven time and time again that he knows how to build a winning team rather than simply buying pieces. The entire starting 11 in Arsenal's latest game cost a total of £40 million combined...£10m less than Fernando Torres...yet Arsenal are the only team in England still alive in all four major competitions and are in second place five points behind current leaders ManUre United. Arsenal fans should be proud that the club was singled out by UEFA as an example of a well run club.

With the world in a recession and debt everywhere it's astonishing to see such money thrown around. In recent years clubs such as Leeds, Portsmouth and Fiorentina have all been demoted and lost tons of money because of bad business. It could happen again.

On the other side of the money madness are my other team, the New York Mets. This is the letter sent to Mets fans by our owners, father and son Wilpon. Seems our owners' dealings with everyones' favorite ponzi scheme criminal Bernie Madoff has left them worse off than they originally led fans to believe.

Long story short, the team's owners have no money to invest in the team, the team is going to be mediocre this year and that's that. Maybe we'll get lucky and Chelsea's Roman Abramovich will buy a stake in the NY Mets. He obviously has the money.

On the pitch, Arsenal put in some nervy performances. Division One Huddersfield visited the Emirates for the 4th round of the FA Cup and the Gunners looked pretty pedestrian. Bendtner opened the scoring in the 21st minute and what should have been an easy win turned out to be anything but. First Sebastien Squillaci clumsily got sent off towards the end of the first half. Then, Huddersfield equalized on a corner in the 67th minute. Eventually, Arsenal were awarded a penalty in the 86th minute which Cesc Fabregas put away sealing advancement to the 5th round. The draw was lucky and Arsenal will travel to Leyton Orient of League One later this month.

In the league, Everton visited London in a game that saw the ref get a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons. In the 24th minute, a clearly offside Louis Saha, put the ball in the back of the net and both the ref and the linesman allowed the goal to stand. Interestingly enough, this injustice seemed to wake Arsenal up.

Losing was not an option if Arsenal wanted to keep pace with ManUre for the title. Despite leaving it late, Arsenal came back. First the little Russian, Andrey Arshavin came on as a sub and scored the equaliser. Six minutes later, center back Laurent Koscielny scored the winner with a header from a corner kick. In years past these are the type of games that Arsenal always seemed to lose. This performance showed true grit and determination.

As the Yankees have demonstrated over the years, money can buy superstars, but it can't build team chemistry. Hopefully Chelsea will learn this and a team put together the right way, such as Arsenal will come out ahead.
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